Saturday, April 6, 2013

A fine exhibit on Indian Americans is coming to Smithsonian in December

Did you know that the Indian presence in the United States dates
back to 1790? You will now, thanks to an exhibition opening later this
year at the Smithsonian Museum.

They have dreamed the American Dream, working late shifts at 7-Elevens,
driving yellow cabs and managing crumbling motels. They have also been
physicians, academics, scientists, entrepreneurs and high-powered
hoteliers. Touching 3.2 million, they are among the highest American
achievers, and you know they have truly arrived as a community when the
prestigious Smithsonian Museum decides to showcase their success.

We’re talking, of course, about the Indian-American community, which
will be the focus of a major exhibition: “Beyond Bollywood: Indian
Americans Shape the Nation.” Four years in the making, the exhibition is
expected to debut at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, in
December 2013, in Washington DC. It will occupy more than 5,000 square
feet of space and is expected to draw more than 7 million visitors
before embarking on a national tour in 2015.

“The Indian American story has yet to be fully told,” says Dr. Konrad
Ng, Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, whose
mandate is to highlight Asian communities in the U.S. This exhibition is
part of the Smithsonian Indian American Heritage Project, and it is the
largest project the Center has organised in its 15-year history, as
well as the first to focus on Indian-American culture. Apart from the
exhibition, there will be inter-connected public programmes, a
curriculum guide for youth, an interactive website, and artefacts
donated to the Smithsonian’s permanent collection.

Ng, President Barack Obama’s brother-in-law, is a noted scholar of
Asian-American cinema and digital media — even if, with his lean, lanky
frame and long hair, he gives the appearance of a cool rock musician. He
was in New York recently to introduce the upcoming exhibition to
Indians of the tri-state area at a reception at the Consulate of India.

Himself an immigrant and part of a family of many races, he told the
room full of Indian-Americans, “India, the people of India, Indian
Americans, and Indian-American history, art and culture are no longer
objects to be sold, bought, owned, or disenfranchised the way
Asian-Pacific American life was during the colonial era and the early
part of American history; rather, we are now active and proud
participants in the American story, and, indeed, in the history of the
world.”

He was accompanied by Dr. Masum Momaya, Curator of the Indian-American
Project, and Sameen Piracha, Developmental Specialist. Momaya is a
second-generation Indian American who recalls often being the only brown
child in the group photos taken in her school in Illinois, where her
immigrant parents had settled in the 1970s. She went on to study at
Stanford, Harvard and Oxford, and was earlier Curator at the
International Museum of Women.

“The exhibition is simultaneously an enormous undertaking and a first
step in the privileged platform of the Smithsonian, our national
museum,” says Momaya, adding that it’s impossible to adequately ‘cover’
the diversity of identity or experience that is represented in the
community. “But I have a two-pronged purpose: dismantling stereotypes
and highlighting the contributions of Indians Americans to shaping this
country — politically, professionally and culturally.”

Momaya feels that the exhibition is particularly important and timely
because immigration is a core of part of American history and, in this
nation of immigrants, there are still misconceptions that
Indian-Americans are foreigners and outsiders. Indian presence in the
U.S. dates back to 1790, just 14 years after the formation of the
American nation. “Our hands have been part of building the railroads and
cultivating farms and establishing trade and small businesses five
generations ago, which still exist today,” says Momaya. “We fought for
citizenship and civil rights for not just ourselves but many peoples.
And, yes, we are doctors and engineers, and we drive taxis and own
motels and Dunkin’ Donuts stores, but there is much more.”

Part of Momaya’s responsibility as curator is to choose characters whose
experiences convey more than just the narrative of one individual,
representing something larger about the collective experience. “Beyond
Bollywood”, thus, will show that Indians have been a part of the
American story in both expected and surprising ways. It will document
both the ups and downs — the success stories, as well as incidents of
discrimination, from the late 1800s to the present — through historic
photographs and contemporary artefacts and mementos from noted Indian
Americans. It will cover immigrant stories, the struggle for labour and
women’s rights, professional successes, and the many contributions in
art and entertainment.

Fortunately, the funding of the exhibition has not been that difficult.
Over 60 per cent of the fundraising goal has been achieved; $325,000
still needs to be raised. While federal funding is a mainstay of the
Smithsonian, the Asian Pacific American Center receives no direct funds
from Congress and relies on private donations. Indian immigrant
entrepreneur and philanthropist H.R. Shah, who owns the broadcast
company TV Asia (media partner with the Smithsonian for this
exhibition), has been among the prime donors in the Saffron category,
which is $100,000. Other donors in that category are the Kanu R. Shah
and Daksha K. Shah Foundation, and Rick and Sadhana Downs.

At the New York reception held at the packed ballroom of New India
House, Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, who retired on the same day as the Pope,
gave his last welcoming address to the guests, calling the
Indian-American community a great catalyst in furthering the relations
between India and America, and voicing the hope that the Smithsonian’s
extraordinary exhibition would travel not only across the U.S. but also
to Indian cities.

Momaya hopes that the exhibition will dismantle stereotypes and
erroneous assumptions that are held about Indian Americans and for
Indian Americans. “I hope they will leave with a sense of pride about
the numerous ways we’ve shaped this country.”

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I am an entrepreneur. I have owned a grocery store, restaurant, published a weekly periodical, owned a video store chain, run a coffee-sandwich shop, and have extensive experience in real estate (sales, development, & as a general contractor). Over the last few years, I worked as preservationist of a historical property (rehabing an 1864 mill building). Founder, President of India Museum and Heritage Society in Providence. Past President of India Association of RI. Past Member Heritage Harbor Museum Board.
New England Republican Council.